Over the course of my practicum, I came to recognize the fundamental value of inviting guardians to support students’ learning. Students are holistic beings who need to feel supported and cared for by adults both during and after school. In the quarter system under COVID-19 circumstances, I found it difficult to always know how students were doing and give classes of 30 students enough feedback to continuously work on. This is why parent/guardian and community involvement was so important. The added feedback, support, and encouragement of parents at home gave my students added a way of developing their skills at home, despite the fast-paced quarter system with the online portion of learning. Thus, by establishing inviting and regular contact with guardians, I am growing towards more open conversations about students’ progress.

Artifact #1: Correspondence with parents that celebrates positive behaviours

During my PYP practicum, I sent regular emails to parents to applaud the positive behaviours and achievements of my students. By the end of the English 9 course, I aimed to have sent home at least one positive email to the parents of each student. The email shown here is one example of an interaction I had with a parent after my first week of teaching. My email to applaud the student was brief, but completely heartfelt, and the response was powerful. The parent felt grateful, proud, and honoured as a participant in the student’s learning journey, not just as in academics, but in behaviours and dispositions at school as well. My deep hope as a teacher is to establish correspondence with parents that celebrates the positive behaviours and achievements of my students. Most important adults only hear from teachers when something challenging or “negative” comes up about a student. My goal as a teacher is to also communicate about what students are doing well — more specifically, work habits and social skills that they are developing that do not go unseen in the classroom. After all, the goal of schooling is ultimately to develop Core Competencies of respect, self-awareness, initiative, and other similar abilities — and I hope that by positively reinforcing these behaviours, my students will grow in their intrinsic motivation to live as motivated, respectful, and creative individuals. 

Artifact #2: Email to parents about online norms 

I sent this email to parents 5 ½ weeks into the English 9 course, after the switch from in-person blocks to the blended space. In the email, I outlined some of the major skills and assignments the class was working on and notified parents of our blended learning routine, as well as the opportunity for students to come in-person to attend online classes. This email is an example of the several emails I sent out to parents over the course of the 10-week English 9 course to invite parents into the learning experiences and encourage them to offer support from home. The online learning space is a tremendous challenge for many students, so I made it my priority to establish contact with parents immediately to establish a tone for the online classroom. Most parents were open to encouraging their student to attend in-person classes, enforcing the mandatory online attendance, and/or receive feedback from home. This helped my students tremendously to stay on-task, develop their work habits, and establish a routine for working from home during COVID-19 schooling.

Conclusion

Ultimately, communication with guardians ensures that students feel safe and supported in their learning physical, emotional, and mental growth both in the classroom and at home. As a growing teacher, I would like my correspondence with parents to be seen as open, positive, and informative. My goals are to send regular emails to parents in my English 9 class, communicating learning targets and activities for each new unit, as well as reminders of assignments so parents can actively support their students during schooling from home. In the Biology 12 classroom, my correspondence with parents will be less frequent, but I would also like to explore how to establish positive and constructive communication with parents when necessary. At this age level, communicating directly with the students to support them holds first priority. At any age level, I hope to send regular positive emails to celebrate student achievements in non-academic areas. As I continue to grow in this standard, I would like to explore how to fit phone calls into my schedule for certain students who need immediate support, and I would also like to incorporate ways to share samples of students’ academic achievements with guardians to celebrate their growth and success.